Tag Archives: fitz and the tantrums

Fall has Â arrived and brought along a newly revamped Honest Tune website. I am really excited to be a part of the continued effort here at HT to spread the music far and wide and would like to give kudos to the crew for the hard work in giving a facelift to this old media work horse.

Having been given the honor to hold court in the halls of the Tune comes with the burden of being entertaining. Â Since I seem to be more entertaining when I shut up and let photos do the talking, I decided that my column would be conceptual and driven by photography. The ideology behind it certainly seems fun and lighthearted in its nature. I can only hope that folks find it to be entertaining and worthy of stopping by from time to time for session.

So many times when on assignment shooting music, I am given the opportunity to do a brief portrait session with various artists. Often times it is a hurried affair, pushed off in some dark, less than average corner in a backstage setting. More times than not I have heard “yeah no problem, we can give you a chance to get the shot you need. You will have five minutes to make something work.”Â Rather than be put off by the stress and restraints of the situation, I decided it would be the perfect topic for my column, the “Five Minute Photo.”

In lining up sessions for this column I will only ask for five minutes of the artist’s time (and tell them that if they are good we might be done in three). From the time I meet up with them to the last click of the shutter will always take place within no more than a five minute window. So far people have loved the idea of having to offer so little, and yet have so much fun. Â I mean what can I say, I’m a fun guy, and five minutes will get you in good spirits!

This first installment is from the amazing Telluride Blues and Brews festival.Â The weekend was beautiful. Â There was sunshine, rain, snow, mud, great music and a phenomenal selection of breweries on hand for the Grand Tasting. It was everything you might want a fall weekend in Telluride to include. Thanks to some of the rain and snow, a few of my shoots were cancelled but the two that we were able to get off went great.

Day One:Â Fitz & The Tantrums were to play before Zappa plays Zappa and the headliningÂ Flaming Lips. Shortly before their set, I worked my way backstage to the bands teepee and found their tour manager. Â After a few minutes of laughing about the concept, we went and met up with the band. Â They immediately jumped on board and fully embraced the idea of making it fun and fast.Â There just happened to be all the needed props in front of the teepee. Â I mean if I had a props list for the day numbers 1, 2 and 3, it would have been: a carousel horse, a whip and a fire extinguisher.

Fitz & The Tantrums

Day Two:Â Â Sunday morning came quick.Â It was cold in town park campground and I stayed up late at the Sheridan Opera House for a heater of a show from the Anders Osborne Band. In fact the late night juke joint show was by far the highlight of the weekend. Even though it was unusually difficult to pry myself from the comfort of my tent, I had a gondola ride to make. My buddy Nate was in the kitchen making shrimp and grits and I was to meet Anders before the New Orleans Saints kickoff.

At the top of the mountain, there was snow blanketing everything but the sun was bright and uplifting.Â Anders and I stepped outside on the balcony for a few minutes to take in the beauty outside the lodge. Within just a few clicks of the shutter, I felt like we were good and the smell of bacon, creole shrimp and grits had made it hard to concentrate anyway. Â So we dove in to an amazing breakfast and tuned in to the Who Dat Nation!

Anders Osborne

For more on Anders Osborne, click hereFor more on Fitz and The Tantrums, click hereConnect with Brad on Facebook.Â Â